Penn State, N.C. reach NCAA soccer final

Penn State's Christine Nairn, left, and Maya Hayes celebrate Nairn's game winning goal to defeat Florida State 2-1 in overtime during the NCAA Women's College Cup at USD in San Diego on Friday.
Hayne Palmour IV

The women on Penn State’s roster are from small towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio and even Winnipeg, Manitoba. They didn’t grow up playing soccer in 300 days of sunshine. They don’t necessarily produce the “beautiful game” as attractively as others might.

What they lack in polish or pure athleticism, they more than make up for with extraordinary grit and confidence. And they needed every last grain of it on Friday night in the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup at USD’s Torero Stadium.

Forty-one seconds from seizing their first spot ever in the championship final, the Nittany Lions suffered what could have been a crushing blow when Florida State star Tiffany McCarty netted a header to knot the game at 1.

The Seminoles dominated the run of play in the final 10 minutes. It figured to be much the same in overtime. But the Nittany Lions produced a shocking end, with senior midfielder Christine Nairn scoring only 1:12 into the extra period to earn a 2-1 victory against a Seminoles squad ranked No. 1 for much of the season.

In only the second appearance for a Big Ten team in the final, Penn State (21-3-2) will play on Sunday at 1 p.m. against 20-time champion North Carolina, which beat top-ranked Stanford 1-0 with a goal in the 16th minute of overtime.

After the way the Nittany Lions gutted out the semifinal win, an opponent's pedigree doesn’t seem to matter much to them.

“It’s about the battle,” said Nairn, the undisputed team leader. “We might not play the prettiest soccer. But we have the grittiest team. We were diving all over the place, defending with numbers. We played better as a team; that’s why we were successful.”

The winning goal in front of 7,289 fans was both beautiful and disputable. Nairn gained the ball in midfield, dribbled up the middle and then passed to the left corner to star forward Maya Hayes. Well-guarded, Hayes pulled the ball back and sent a 30-yard pass on the ground through the penalty area. Maddy Evans sped to the ball and sent a hard, low screamer at the goal, where Nairn waited to deflect it past Seminoles goalie Kelsey Wys.

Replays showed that Nairn was very close to being offside.

Asked if she thought she was offside, Nairn grinned and looked like a woman enjoying a delicious secret.

“Before I celebrated, I looked back to the sideline to the referee and to the official to make sure it went in,” Nairn said. “When I didn’t get a response out of those two, I kind of ran away.”

Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said his players were loudly disputing the non-call as they left the field, but he added that he’d have to wait to see a replay.

“We’re not going to get into that,” Krikorian said. “If it’s a good goal, good for them. If it’s not, that’s too bad to taint the game that way.”

After a scoreless first half played in a heavy drizzle, Penn State scored first when Mallory Weber drilled a shot from the left side that Wys stopped, but couldn’t handle. Hayes was there to punch in the rebound for her 16th goal of the year.